Bovine Tuberculosis

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what response he has made to the advice from the Science Advisory Council on bovine tuberculosis;
	(2)  when he will answer question 54634 tabled by the hon. Member for Portsmouth South on 24 February 2006.

Ben Bradshaw: Science Advisory Council (SAC) advice on bovine TB was taken into consideration by the Chief Scientific Advisor when formulating his guidance to Ministers on new measures to tackle the disease, announced on 15 December 2005.
	Further advice was provided on 20 December 2005, following the publication of interim results of the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT).
	Defra provided the SAC with an update on bovine TB activity at a meeting on 12 January 2006. Draft minutes of the meeting are available on the Defra website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/science/how/advisory06a.htm.

Dairy Industry

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the (a) operation and (b) profitability of the dairy market; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: The Department has not made an assessment of the operation or profitability of the dairy market. However, the Milk Development Council publishes a report on an annual basis which examines dairy supply chain margins. The last report covering 2004–05 showed that dairy supply chain margins did not change significantly from the year before. Dairy farm income rose slightly as a result of marginally higher farmgate prices and the payment of the dairy premium. Processor margins varied during the period. Retail margins generally continued to increase (a Europe-wide phenomenon).

Dairy Industry

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of (a) the pattern of volume output in the milk year and (b) levels of profit derived at each stage of the dairy food chain.

Barry Gardiner: Final calculations about milk production are still being made, but Although it appears that wholesale milk production was lower in 2005–06 than 2004–05, it is too early to tell whether this is a long term trend or has been caused by weather, restructuring etc. The UK is more often under quota than over it and it must be remembered that quota is a limit on production and not a target.
	The Department has not made an assessment of the operation or profitability of the dairy market. However, the Milk Development Council publishes a report on an annual basis which examines dairy supply chain margins. The last report covering 2004–05 showed that dairy supply chain margins did not change significantly from the year before. Dairy farm income rose slightly as a result of marginally higher farmgate prices and the payment of the dairy premium. Processor margins varied during the period. Retail margins generally continued to increase (a Europe-wide phenomenon).

Departmental Policies

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will set out with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to West Lancashire constituency the effects in West Lancashire of changes to his Department's policies since 1997.

Barry Gardiner: Since the Department was established in 2001, we have put in place a considerable programme of reforms and improvements. For example, action on sustainable development, climate change and energy, sustainable consumption and production, natural resource protection, sustainable rural communities, and a sustainable farming and food sector. A summary of achievements relating to these policy areas can be found at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/achievements.htm. I am confident that the West Lancashire constituency will have benefited from these.
	In particular, the West Lancashire constituency has benefited from funding through the National Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund as well as the Waste Performance and Efficiency Grant to deliver household waste recycling levels that are currently well above the national average. Singly, or in partnership with other Lancashire authorities, West Lancashire has received more than £7 million to support progress in this area in the last three years.
	Under the Nitrates Directive, around 80 per cent. of the West Lancashire constituency was designated as an Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) in 2002; currently about 55 per cent. of England is designated. Farmers in NVZs are required to follow an action programme aimed at reducing the risk of nitrates loss; for example by limiting the amount of Nitrogen applied on the farm during the year and by not applying manure or fertilisers during certain times of the year.
	Since 2003, local authority performance on street cleanliness has been measured through best value performance indicator BV199. This assesses the percentage of survey sites in each local authority area with unacceptable levels of litter and detritus. In 2003–04 West Lancashire scored 18.2 per cent. against a national average of 21.2 per cent., and in 2004–05 19 per cent. against a national average of 18.1 per cent. These results are for West Lancashire district, comprising the constituencies of West Lancashire and South Ribble. Data are not available at the constituency level.
	In March 2005 we announced that Lancashire would be one of eight rural pathfinders in England. The pathfinder initiative is a key part of the Government's Rural Strategy and reflects the Government's commitment to devolve decision-making and resources to the local level. The Lancashire rural pathfinder is helping to ensure greater co-ordination of rural delivery programmes, including testing new and innovative methods to bring about improvements in the delivery of services to rural communities and businesses.
	Lancashire has also proved to be a fertile ground for our Defra's Project Based Schemes which are generally available to farmers to help them develop new business opportunities and widen the skills they already possess. For example, Farmer Ted's Farm Park, located at Worral House Farm just outside Southport, was opened in 2003 with the help of funding from the Rural Enterprise Scheme. In the first 18 months it received over 38,000 visitors including 480 school trips. The attraction also contributes to the local economy by employing 10 full-time and 30 part-time employees.
	The RPA will be releasing details of payments made under the new Single Payment Scheme (SPS) in due course. It will publish an annual figure for payments to each recipient under the SPS drawn from its financial records. The information will be extracted and published on the RPA website later this year.
	Indicators of environmental quality for West Lancashire district are given as follows, they are for water quality and waste and recycling. Data for other indicators are available only either at regional and/or national level and not local level, or for individual monitoring sites not within the area local to West Lancashire. For some indicators data for 1997 are not available and the nearest year for which data are available has been given.
	
		Results from General Quality Assessment monitoring of water quality for river stretches within West Lancashire DC
		
			  Percentage of total assessed river length which is of: 
			 Water quality Good quality Fair quality Poor quality Bad quality Total km 
		
		
			 Biological quality  
			 2000 3 72 22 2 111 
			 2004 4 87 8 0 111 
			   
			 Chemical quality  
			 1997 0 30 67 3 145 
			 2000 20 68 12 0 145 
			 2004 19 69 13 0 145 
		
	
	
		Nitrate and phosphate concentrations
		
			 Water quality Concentration more than 30 mg NO 3 /I Total km 
		
		
			 1995 62 145 
			 2000 60 145 
			 2004 59 145 
		
	
	
		
			   Water quality Percentage of river length with concentration more than 0.1 mg P/I phosphate   Total km 
		
		
			 1995 73 145 
			 2000 76 145 
			 2004 76 145 
		
	
	
		Recycling rate for West Lancashire DC—Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs)
		
			 Waste and recycling Percentage of household waste recycled and composted 
		
		
			 1997–98 9.1 
			 2004–95 26.2 
		
	
	Note:
	There have been some change in definitions between in the BVPIs between 1997–98 and 2004–05 but figures should be broadly comparable.
	Water quality data are from the "e-Digest of environmental statistics" on Defra's website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/index.htm The BVPI data are from the Audit Commission's website at: http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/performance/dataprovision-previous.asp.
	Defra provides a range of comprehensive statistical information. This is available on the Department's website at: http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/default.asp

Rural Payments Agency

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total running costs of the Rural Payments Agency and its predecessor were in each of the last three years.

Barry Gardiner: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is an Executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and was formed on 16 October 2001. The previous three years' costs therefore only relate to RPA.
	RPA's gross running costs for these years were as follows:
	
		
			  Amount (£ million) 
		
		
			 2002–03 (1)186.4 
			 2003–04 198.3 
			 2004–05 249.2 
		
	
	(1) Restated figure under merger accounting
	Further details are given in the accounts for these years (HC 940, HC 1009 and HC 82 respectively).

Rural Payments Agency

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what staff turnover within the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) was in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: The following table shows all starters and leavers by year commencing 1 April since 2001. "Leavers" includes those individuals who left on redundancy terms as part of the downsizing of RPA.
	
		
			  Staff Leavers Starters Percentage of increase/ decrease 
		
		
			 2001–02 1,548.75 786 808 1.42 
			 2002–03 3,245.55 763 643 -3 .70 
			 2003–04 3,631.17 780 237 -14.95 
			 2004–05 3,712.17 754 587 -4.50 
			 2005–06 3,235.75 1,081 726 -10.97

Rural Payments Agency

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff there were within the Rural Payments Agency in each year since 2001, broken down by grade.

Barry Gardiner: The following table shows the average number of staff by grade employed by the Rural Payments Agency in each year commencing 1 April.
	
		Average number of staff in RPA since 2001
		
			 Grade 2001–02(2) 2001–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 
		
		
			 SCB 8 10 10 12 11 
			 Grade 6 10 13 12 10 9 
			 Grade 7 45 52 50 47 46 
			 SFO 2 2 2 1 1 
			 SEO 91 109 103 113 102 
			 HEO 178 270 260 250 218 
			 EO 463 796 780 768 658 
			 PS 12 15 14 11 5 
			 AO 622 1,477 1,765 1,854 1,824 
			 TYP 9 37 17 12 5 
			 SGB 1 7 13 18 22 18 
			 AA 86 392 577 589 323 
			 SGB 2 15 62 25 24 16 
			 Total 1,548 3,248 3,633 3,713 3,231 
		
	
	(2) During this year the Intervention Board (IB) and key Regional Development Service (RDS) functions merged to form the Rural Payments Agency.
	Note:
	Information has been supplied in Financial Years.

Single Farm Payments

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of single farm payments have been paid with respect to the financial year 2005–06.

Barry Gardiner: holding answer 27 April 2006
	120,367 applications were received for the Single Payment Scheme. By close of business on 26 April 2006 some 52,922 claims to the 2005 Single Payment Scheme, representing 44.10 per cent. of total claimants had been paid.

Bus Journeys (Doncaster, North)

Edward Miliband: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many passenger bus journeys were taken by residents of Doncaster North in (a) 1984, (b) 1994 and (c) 2004.

Gillian Merron: The information requested is not available for Doncaster North. The number of passenger bus journeys per person per year in Yorkshire and Humberside are listed in the following table for (a) 1985–06, (b) 1994 and (c) 2004.
	
		Average number of passenger bus journeys per person per year for Yorkshire and Humberside
		
			  
		
		
			 1985–06 139 
			 1994 88 
			 2004 67

Buses

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total public spending (a) per head of the population and (b) per passenger was on bus services (i) including and (ii) excluding funding for concessionary travel in (A) London, (B) each of the English Passenger Transport Executive areas and (C) the rest of England in each of the last 10 years.

Gillian Merron: holding answer 8 May 2006
	The information requested is shown in the following tables (figures are not available for 1995–96).
	
		Total spending on bus services including concessionary fare funding
		
			 £ per head of population 
			 Area 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Greater Manchester 23 22 23 24 25 24 24 31 28 
			 Merseyside 38 41 43 32 33 34 36 38 42 
			 South Yorkshire 21 20 14 13 14 15 15 16 18 
			 Tyne and Wear 26 25 25 28 28 28 30 25 25 
			 West Midlands 30 30 31 34 34 36 32 29 28 
			 West Yorkshire 19 19 20 19 21 22 20 21 19 
			 London 17 16 18 18 28 43 74 94 93 
			 Rest of England 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 10 11 
		
	
	
		Total spending on bus services excluding concessionary fare funding
		
			 £ per head of population 
			 Area 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Greater Manchester 8 8 8 8 9 8 8 14 11 
			 Merseyside 15 18 18 8 9 10 10 12 15 
			 South Yorkshire 9 10 5 6 6 7 8 8 9 
			 Tyne and Wear 8 8 9 9 10 10 11 8 6 
			 West Midlands 9 8 10 11 10 12 10 6 6 
			 West Yorkshire 10 10 10 11 12 12 12 13 10 
			 London 2 0 2 1 12 25 57 76 73 
			 Rest of England 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 6 7 
		
	
	
		Total spending on bus services including concessionary fare funding
		
			 Pence per passenger journey 
			 Area 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Greater Manchester 27 27 27 30 31 29 30 38 35 
			 Merseyside 33 38 40 29 32 33 34 37 40 
			 South Yorkshire 18 18 13 13 13 15 15 17 20 
			 Tyne and Wear 18 17 18 20 21 21 23 20 21 
			 West Midlands 22 21 23 25 25 26 24 23 23 
			 West Yorkshire 19 20 22 20 23 25 23 25 23 
			 London 10 9 10 10 15 22 36 41 39 
			 Rest of England 15 15 17 18 20 22 24 27 30 
		
	
	
		Total spending on bus services excluding concessionary fare funding
		
			 Pence per passenger journey 
			 Area 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Greater Manchester 10 9 9 10 12 10 10 17 14 
			 Merseyside 13 17 17 8 8 9 10 12 14 
			 South Yorkshire 8 9 5 6 6 7 8 9 11 
			 Tyne and Wear 5 6 6 7 7 8 9 7 5 
			 West Midlands 7 5 8 8 7 9 7 5 4 
			 West Yorkshire 10 10 11 12 13 14 14 15 12 
			 London 1 0 1 1 6 13 28 33 31 
			 Rest of England 7 7 9 10 11 12 14 16 18 
		
	
	In addition, operators of local bus services receive Bus Service Operators Grant from this Department. This is paid direct to operators and is not attributed to a specific area.

Departmental Policies

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to West Lancashire constituency the effects in West Lancashire of changes to his Department's policies since 1997.

Derek Twigg: Capital funding for local transport in the West Lancashire constituency is allocated to the Lancashire county council. The funding provided to Lancashire county council since 1997 is shown in the following table. It is for Lancashire county council to determine how that allocation is spent, in line with the priorities detailed in their local transport plan.
	
		Lancashire county council level of funding
		
			 £000 
			  Maintenance Integrated block Major funding Targeted bus grants(3) Total funding 
		
		
			 1997–98 — — — — 11,006 
			 1998–99 — — — 751 7,906 
			 1999–2000 — — — 751 10,432 
			 2000–01 6,096 4,800 600 751 12,283 
			 2001–02 16,630 11,200 — 960 28,790 
			 2002–03 17,782 11,922 1,026 1,098 31,828 
			 2003–04 13,337 12,051 — 1,121 26,509 
			 2004–05 16,176 13,033 — 1,238 30,447 
			 2005–06 14,865 11,000 — 1,287 27,152 
		
	
	(3) Includes Rural Bus Subsidy Grant and Rural Bus challenge funding
	The Government are also investing £87 billion per week nationally to improve the railways, which will benefit those in West Lancashire. TransPennine Express, who operate services in West Lancashire, have invested £250 million in a fleet of 51 new trains. Passengers are already travelling on these trains and the full fleet is expected to be operating by the end of January 2007.
	More locally, the West of Lancashire community rail partnership, which was established in 2000, has already been involved with the recent refurbishment of Parbold railway station, the development of a new interchange at Burscough Bridge and the introduction of a new Sunday service at Gathurst station and later evening service from Manchester to Southport.
	The public performance measure for Northern Rail (2004–05), which covers punctuality and reliability, shows that 85 per cent. of trains arrived within 5 minutes of their designated time, against a national average of 84 per cent. These figures show an improvement in Northern Rail's performance since 2003–04.

Departmental Staff

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many departmental staff work on (a) rail, (b) road, (c) aviation, (d) river, (e) walking, (f) cycling and (g) light rail related matters.

Derek Twigg: Actual and planned numbers of staff working in the central Department and its Agencies are set out in the Department's Annual Report 2005 (c. 6527). It is not possible to disaggregate staff numbers in the central Department by mode other than at disproportionate cost, since significant numbers work cross-modally or in units which are themselves cross-modal.

Railways

Linda Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the passenger growth on the (a) Plymouth to Bristol, (b) Plymouth to Birmingham, (c) Plymouth to London and (d) Exeter to Waterloo railway lines was in each year between 1994 and 2005.

Derek Twigg: Information for years prior to 2002 is not available in the form requested. The figures for years from 2002 onwards are as follows:
	
		
			 Year(4) Percentage passenger growth 
		
		
			 (a) Plymouth to Bristol  
			 2002–03 15 
			 2003–04 8 
			 2004–05 -6 
			 2005–06 7 
			   
			 (b) Plymouth to Birmingham  
			 2002–03 -7 
			 2003–04 -6 
			 2004–05 -12 
			 2005–06 1.3 
			   
			 (c) Plymouth to London  
			 2002–03 12 
			 2003–04 7 
			 2004–05 -4 
			 2005–06 3 
			   
			 (d) Exeter to Waterloo  
			 2002–03 -2 
			 2003–04 -7 
			 2004–05 4 
			 2005–06 -9 
		
	
	(4) Rail reporting year which is April to March

Road Accidents

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicle accidents occurred on A roads in (a) Hampshire and (b) England in each year since 1990; and how many (i) fatalities and (ii) serious injuries there were as a result in each year.

Stephen Ladyman: The number of personal injury road accidents reported to the police on A roads in (a) Hampshire (excluding the unitary authorities of Southampton, Portsmouth and Isle of Wight) and (b) England and the resulting fatalities and serious injuries in each year from 1990 to 2004 (the latest year for which figures are available) are given in the table.
	
		Accidents, fatalities and serious injuries in Hampshire (excluding unitary authorities) and England on A roads: 1990 to 2004
		
			  Accidents Fatalities Serious injuries 
			  Hampshire England Hampshire England Hampshire England 
		
		
			 1990 2,042 106,660 72 2,587 559 24,864 
			 1991 1,827 96,701 39 2,253 473 21,100 
			 1992 1,759 96,285 41 2,029 470 20,090 
			 1993 1,764 95,727 44 1,900 427 18,591 
			 1994 1,846 97,824 39 1,851 398 18,905 
			 1995 1,778 95,693 34 1,701 472 18,645 
			 1996 1,809 97,575 34 1,715 397 18,597 
			 1997 1,823 99,328 28 1,726 386 17,950 
			 1998 1,687 98,150 37 1,592 330 17,148 
			 1999 1,735 96,691 31 1,667 330 16,235 
			 2000 1,718 96,748 35 1,670 348 15,895 
			 2001 1,644 95,051 23 1,676 271 15,494 
			 2002 1,594 91,773 47 1,722 341 15,016 
			 2003 1,580 87,818 53 1,694 318 13,895 
			 2004 1,350 83,861 25 1,513 232 12,648

Road Accidents

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicle accidents have occurred on motorways in each year since 1990; and how many (a) fatalities and (b) serious injuries occurred as a result in each year.

Stephen Ladyman: The number of personal injury road accidents reported to the police on motorways in Great Britain and resulting fatalities and serious injuries in each year from 1990 to 2004 (the latest year for which figures are available) are given in the table.
	This information has been published in annual publication series "Road Casualties Great Britain", which are available in the Libraries of the House.
	
		Accidents, fatalities and serious injuries on motorways, GB: 1990 to 2004
		
			  Total number of personal injury accidents on motorways Fatalities Injuries 
		
		
			 1990 6,687 229 1,643 
			 1991 6,289 234 1,394 
			 1992 6,630 238 1,338 
			 1993 6,863 201 1,338 
			 1994 7,225 157 1,358 
			 1995 7,392 180 1,333 
			 1996 7,787 165 1,298 
			 1997 8,678 191 1,422 
			 1998 8,861 174 1,301 
			 1999 9,118 202 1,385 
			 2000 9,394 189 1,401 
			 2001 9,128 203 1,404 
			 2002 8,942 224 1,283 
			 2003 8,746 217 1,234 
			 2004 9,072 164 1,137

Christmas Day Trading Act 2004

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the operation of the Christmas Day Trading Act 2004; and what recent representations he has received about the operation of this Act.

Ian McCartney: The public consultation during 2003 showed 97 per cent. of respondents in favour of maintaining the special nature of Christmas Day. The Department has received no representations about the operation of the Act and we have no plans to revisit this issue.

Domestic Dog and Cat Fur

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department has taken since his written ministerial statement of 27 January 2005, Official Report, columns 33–4WS, on domestic dog and cat fur (alleged imports), to investigate the alleged import of domestic cat and dog fur into the UK.

Ian McCartney: The Government have sought to establish the facts about the extent of the alleged trade in domestic cat and dog fur in the UK. We have found no evidence that such fur is being imported into this country in significant volumes. The Government have also been working to establish a scientific test to make it possible to ascertain reliably from what species of animal any given fur sample has come.
	We firmly believe that action on this issue should and would best be taken at EU level as a harmonised approach would have greater impact, enhance animal-welfare standards within the EU itself and avoid obstacles to the operation of the single market. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs supported calls for the European Commission to investigate these allegations when the Agriculture and Fisheries Council met in May 2005.
	In January 2006, the Commission published its Action Plan on the Protection and Welfare of Animals, which proposes action in the course of 2006 to address public concerns on the trading of cat and dog fur and derived products. On 20 February, Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Kyprianou stated at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council that the Commission was planning to publish a proposal on the import of cat and dog fur within the next few months.

Energy Imports

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the cost of UK energy imports of (a) gas, (b) oil and (c) electricity was in each of the last five years.

Malcolm Wicks: Energy value balances produced by the DTI show the following values for imported gas, oil, and electricity. Further information on the methodology used to produce the value balances is contained in Chapter 1 of the Digest of UK Energy Statistics, copies of which are available in the House Library or on the DTI website at:
	http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/filel9257.pdf.
	
		£ million
		
			 Commodity 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005(5) 
		
		
			 Gas 185 260 135 670 1,740 
			 Crude oil 6,235 6,425 6,495 8,615 11,565 
			 Electricity 180 190 170 345 440 
		
	
	(5) Data for 2005 are provisional

EU Manufacturing

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the extent to which export subsidies are given by EU member state governments to support their domestic manufacturing industry.

Ian McCartney: Direct export subsidies are illegal under the state aid rules which apply under the treaty of Rome. These rules are enforced by the European Commission and reports on the action it takes against member states who breach them are published on its website at:
	http://europa.eu.int/coinm/competition/state_aid/sco reboard/

EU Manufacturing

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the Government plans to challenge export subsidies given to manufacturers by other EU member state governments; and if he will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: Direct export subsidies are always illegal. Only the European Commission can take action against illegal subsidies. If the Government had any evidence of such subsidies we would bring this to the attention of the Commission at once. It also open to any UK company in possession of such evidence to complain direct to the Commission.
	Guidance on how to complain to the Commission can be found at http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_gene ral/sgb/droit_com/index_en.htm#aides

Italian Subsidies

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information he has received on subsidies available in Italy.

Ian McCartney: The Department's main source of information on state aid granted in all member states including Italy is the European Commission's twice yearly scoreboard for global information on state aid granted in other member states.
	http:/Veuropa.eu.int/coinni/competition/state_aid/sc oreboaiW2005/autuinn_en.pdf
	Information on aid schemes and individual aids in all member states which have been notified to and approved by the European Commission can also be found on the Commission's website:
	http://europa.eu.int/conini/competition/state aid/regi ster/

Sakhalin II Project

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what criteria the Export Credits Guarantee Department use when assessing whether to support the Sakhalin II oil and gas project.

Ian McCartney: The Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) has published its Case Impact Analysis Process, which sets out the criteria that it uses to assess the environmental and social impacts of projects. This can be found on its website at www.ecgd.gov.uk/ecgd_case_impact_analysis_process_may2004.doc.
	In addition to the environmental and social impacts, in assessing the Sakhalin II project ECGD will need to consider the financial, commercial and legal aspects of the project.

Statutory Instruments

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the operation of Statutory Instrument number (a) 2001/2673, (b) 2001/2660, (c) 2001/4010, (d) 2002/3128, (e) 2003/3319 and (f) 2003/1656.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government are proud of its record on employment regulation. This has given the UK a skilled and flexible workforce. We have given people decent rights at work without jeopardising their prospects for employment. Both employers and employees have rights and responsibilities towards each other and we strive to find the right balance and consult closely on all our regulations.
	The Regulations behind the above statutory instruments are as follows:
	SI 2001/2673
	The Regulations behind Statutory Instrument 2001/2673 amended the National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999 and came into force on 1 October 2001. They increased the adult minimum wage rate from £3.70 to £4.10 an hour and the rate for workers aged 18–21 (inclusive) from £3.20 to £3.50 an hour. They also made a number of other amendments relating to the level of the accommodation offset and workers taking part in accredited training. Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs is responsible for enforcing compliance with the national minimum wage legislation.
	SI 2001/2660
	SI 2001/2660 introduced two technical changes to the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 to implement the Burden of Proof Directive—97/80/EC—the aim of which was to ensure that victims of sex discrimination are provided with effective access to justice, and in doing so promote equal treatment. This Directive applied to the employment field only. These regulations are enforceable through the Employment Tribunal system.
	SI 2001/4010
	SI 2001/4010 extended parental leave entitlement for parents of disabled children under 18 from 13 weeks' parental leave to 18 weeks' leave which can be taken up to their child's 18th birthday. SI 2001/4010 also extended the right to parental leave to parents of children under 5 on 15 December 1999. These parents were able to take their parental leave until 31 March 2001. SI 1999/3312, which SI 2001/4010 amended, is enforceable through the employment tribunals system.
	SI 2002/3128
	SI 2002/3128 introduced measures to protect young workers and provide fair minimum standards which ensure that young people are protected from excess working time leading to fatigue, risks to health and safety and possible damage to their education. These Regulations are enforceable and I have not been made aware of any difficulties with their operation.
	SI 2003/3319
	The Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 (Statutory Instruments 2003/3319) govern the private recruitment industry in the UK and seek to protect those using the job-finding services provided by employment agencies. It is enforced by the DTIs Employment Agency Standards (EAS) Inspectorate. The Inspectorate can prosecute an agency found to be in breach of the legislation and can also apply for a Prohibition Order preventing an individual from operating as an agency or employment business for up to 10 years. The EAS has a helpline; the number is 0845 955 5105.
	SI 2003/1656
	SI 2003/1656 amended the Equal Pay Act 1970 in three respects to reflect requirements of European Community law, specifically Article 141 of the Treaty of Rome (equal pay), as applied in a number of recent cases before the European Court of Justice and the domestic courts. It extended the previous two-year limit on the period over which an employment tribunal could award back pay in successful equal pay cases, extended the six-month time limit within which a woman must bring an equal pay claim before an employment tribunal in specific, limited cases, and introduced a new rule that enables equal pay claims to be brought during the period of a stable employment relationship or within six months of it ending. These Regulations are enforceable through the Employment Tribunal system.

Cancer

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the death rate for cancer was in (a) males and (b) females under 75 years of age in each year since 1976.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the national statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 11 May 2006
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the death rate for cancer was in (a) males and (b) females under 75 years of age in each year since 1976. (68832)
	The most recent year for which figures are available is 2004. The attached table shows the age-standardised death rate from cancer, for males and females aged under 75 years in England and Wales for the years 1976 to 2004. Although coding changes within this period mean that figures are not completely comparable between 1976 and 2004, nevertheless a strong overall downward trend can be seen in cancer mortality across these years.
	
		Death rates(6) from cancer(7), for males and females aged under 75(8), England and Wales, 1976 to 2004(9)
		
			 Deaths per 100,000 population 
			  Males Females 
		
		
			 1976 200.9 137.1 
			 1977 196.8 135.6 
			 1978 197.6 136.4 
			 1979 195.8 137.5 
			 1980 193.6 137.6 
			 1981 190.9 137.5 
			 1982 188.1 137.8 
			 1983 191.2 137.7 
			 1984 192.2 141.3 
			 1985 188.6 140.8 
			 1986 185.6 139.5 
			 1987 183.8 139.9 
			 1988 185.4 140.2 
			 1989 182.4 139.1 
			 1990 179.9 136.8 
			 1991 178.2 135.3 
			 1992 176.3 133.7 
			 1993 170.8 131.2 
			 1994 167.6 128.8 
			 1995 164.1 126.9 
			 1996 160.3 123.7 
			 1997 154.2 121.3 
			 1998 153.8 119.3 
			 1999 148.0 116.8 
			 2000 143.6 114.7 
			 2001 141.7 113.0 
			 2002 140.7 111.4 
			 2003 136.9 108.5 
			 2004 133.0 107.3 
		
	
	(6) Rate per 100,000 population standardised to the European Standard Population.
	(7) Selected using the International Classification of Diseases, Eighth Revision (ICD-8) codes 140–207 for the years 1976 to 1978, Ninth Revision (1CD-9) codes 140–208 for the years 1979 to 2000, and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes C00-C97 for 2001 onwards. Between 1984 and 1992 a different interpretation ofICD-9 selection rule 3 was used to code underlying cause of death in England and Wales to that used internationally. This change means that comparisons between this period and years before and after, should be interpreted with caution. The impact of the change on mortality statistics was analysed and reported in annual mortality publications in 1984 and 1994*. The introduction of ICD-10 for coding cause of death in 2001 also means that figures are not completely comparable with data for years before this date. Comparisons between the data before and after 2001 should therefore also be interpreted with caution. An article specifically examining the effect of the change in classification for cancer trends was published in Health Statistics Quarterly 23**. More information about these changes, as well as the results of the study, can be found on the National Statistics website at www.statistics.gov.uk/icd10mortality
	(8) Aged 0 to 74 years, excluding babies aged under 28 days from 1986 onwards.
	(9) Figures are for registrations of death in each calendar year from 1976 to 1992 and for occurrences of death in each calendar year from 1993 onwards.
	* Mortality statistics: Cause 1984. DH2 No. 11, pg viii-ix.
	Mortality statistics: Cause 1993 (revised) and 1994. DH2 No. 21, pg xxv-xxxiii.
	** Brock A, Griffiths C, Rooney C (2004) The effect of the introduction of ICD-10 on cancer mortality trends in England and Wales. Health Statistics Quarterly 23, 7–17.

Census Records

Mike Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many communications have been received by (a) his Department and (b) the Office for National Statistics from hon. Members since 1 January 2005 on the failure of the Registrar General to transfer decennial census records for England and Wales to the National Archives not later than 30 years after their creation in accordance with the Public Records Act 1958 s.3(4).

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 11 May 2006
	As National Statistician and Registrar General I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many communications have been received by (a) the Treasury and (b) the Office for National Statistics from hon. Members since 1st January 2005, on the failure of the Registrar General to transfer decennial census records for England and Wales to the National Archives not later than 30 years after their creation in accordance with the Public Records Act 1958 s.3(4). 66496
	There has been just one communication in total from Members of Parliament since 1 January 2005 concerning the transfer of census records but this related to the 1981 and 1991 Censuses which are, of course, not yet 30 years old.
	I should clarify that in accordance with Section 3(4) of the Public Records Act I have obtained approval for retention of decennial census records which are over 30 years old. Lord Chancellor's Retention Instrument number 81 approves retention of the 1921 and 1951 censuses and the Lord Chancellor's Retention Instrument number 63 approves retention of the 1961 and 1971 censuses. There are no surviving decennial population census records for 1931 and no census was taken in 1941.

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the staff in his Department is (a) male, (b) female and (c) disabled, broken down by grade.

John Healey: 56.3 per cent. of the staff of the Treasury are male. The breakdown by grade is as follows:
	
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 Range A 0.5 
			 Range B 6.6 
			 Range C 9.8 
			 Range D 34.1 
			 Range E 34.1 
			 SCS 11.4 
			 Special Advisers 1.1 
			 Students 2.5 
		
	
	The grade breakdown of the 43.7 per cent. of staff who are female is as follows:
	
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 Range A 1.2 
			 Range B 18.6 
			 Range C 15.2 
			 Range D 307 
			 Range E 23.8 
			 SCS 8.6 
			 Special Advisers 0.4 
			 Students 1.4 
		
	
	3.5 per cent. of Treasury staff have declared themselves as having a disability. The grade breakdown is as follows:
	
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 Range A 44.4 
			 Range B 6.0 
			 Range C 5.1 
			 Range D 2.4 
			 Range E 2.4 
			 SCS 1.7 
			 Special Advisers 0.0 
			 Students 0.0

Doncaster, North (Statistics)

Edward Miliband: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people resident in Doncaster, North were employed in transport services in (a) 1984, (b) 1994 and (c) 2004.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 11 May 2006
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about employment in the transport service. (68407)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of employment for local areas from the annual local area Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation definitions.
	It is estimated that 1,000 people, resident in the Doncaster North Parliamentary Constituency, were employed in transport services (1992 Standard Industrial Classification classes 60—land transport, 61—water transport and 62—air transport) for the 12 months ending December 2004 from the APS. LFS industry class data for parliamentary constituencies are only available from the 12 month period ending February 1999.
	The estimate, as with any from sample surveys, is subject to a margin of uncertainty.

Economic Inactivity

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the rates of economic inactivity were for people of working age in each (a) region, (b) country in the UK and (c) parliamentary constituency in Tyne and Wear in each year from 1995 to 2005.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 11 May 2006
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question about economic inactivity. (69578)
	The Office for National Statistics compiles statistics of economic inactivity for local areas from the annual population survey following international labour organisation definitions.
	Table 1, attached shows the economic inactivity rates for persons of working age (males aged 16 to 64 and females aged 16 to 59) for each region and country of the UK for the 12 month period ending December 2004. Table 2, attached, shows the equivalent rates for each parliamentary constituency in Tyne and Wear
	These estimates, as with any from sample surveys, are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	
		Table 1: Working age economic inactivity rates for each region and country of the UK; January 2004 to December 2004.
		
			  Percentage 
			  Region and country Economic inactivity rates for persons of working age 
		
		
			 North East 25.6 
			 North West 23.8 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber 22.5 
			 East Midlands 21.2 
			 West Midlands 22.5 
			 Eastern 18.3 
			 London 25.5 
			 South East 18.0 
			 South West 19.4 
			 England 21.7 
			 Wales 25.1 
			 Scotland 21.0 
			 Northern Ireland 28.5 
			 United Kingdom 22.0 
		
	
	Note:
	Estimates are subject to sampling variability.
	Source:
	Annual population survey.
	Working age is males aged 16 to 64 and females aged 16 to 59..
	
		Table 2: Working age economic inactivity rates for each Parliamentary Constituency in Tyne and Wear; January 2004 to December 2004
		
			  Percentage 
			  Parliamentary constituency Economic inactivity rates for persons of working age 
		
		
			 Blaydon 22.6 
			 Gateshead East & Washington West 18.9 
			 Houghton & Washington East 24.5 
			 Jarrow 26.8 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne Central 30.9 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne East &  Wallsend 26.5 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne North 21.8 
			 North Tyneside 19.0 
			 South Shields 30.0 
			 Sunderland North 30.9 
			 Sunderland South 30.0 
			 Tyne Bridge 32.3 
			 Tynemouth 23.5 
		
	
	Note:
	Estimates are subject to sampling variability
	Source:
	Annual Population Survey.
	Working age is males aged 16 to 64 and females aged 16 to 59.

Infant Mortality

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the 10 areas with the (a) highest and (b) lowest rates of infant mortality; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 11 May 2006
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning the 10 areas with the (a) highest and (b) lowest rates of infant mortality. (69334)
	The attached table gives infant mortality rates for the aggregate period 2002–2004, for the 10 primary care organisation (PCO) areas in England with the highest rates of infant mortality and the 10 PCO areas with the lowest rates of infant mortality.
	
		Infant mortality rates(10) for the 10 primary care organisation (PCO) areas(11) in England with the highest rates of infant mortality and the 10 PCO areas with the lowest rates of infant mortality, 2002–04
		
			 10 PCO areas with the highest infant mortality rates (IMR) IMR Number of infant deaths 
		
		
			 Heart of Birmingham Teaching 12.4 218 
			 North Kirklees 11.1 85 
			 Bradford City Teaching 10.4 94 
			 South Stoke 9.9 45 
			 Eastern Birmingham 9.1 89 
			 North Bradford 9.0 29 
			 Doncaster Central 8.8 23 
			 North Stoke 8.8 41 
			 Central Manchester 8.6 62 
			 Preston 8.5 45 
			
			 10 PCO areas with the lowest infant mortality rates (IMR)   
			 Central Suffolk 1.4 4 
			 East Elmbridge and Mid Surrey 1.5 13 
			 East Devon 1.8 5 
			 North East Oxfordshire 2.1 6 
			 Teignbridge 2.1 6 
			 Chiltern and South Bucks 2.2 11 
			 South Somerset 2.2 10 
			 Mid-Hampshire 2.4 13 
			 Royston, Buntingford and Bishop's Stortford 2.4 6 
			 Hertsmere 2.4 8 
		
	
	(10) Deaths at ages under one year per 1000 live births.
	(11) For comparability, PCO boundaries at November 2005 are used for all years.
	(12) Where rates are calculated from fewer than 20 deaths, the reliability of the measure may be affected by the small number of events

Pregnancy Rates

Iris Robinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the pregnancies rates for (a) 15 to 16 and (b) 13 to 14 year olds were in the last period for which figures are available.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 11 May 2006
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the pregnancy rates for (a) 15 to 16 and (b) 13 to 14 year olds were in the last period for which figures are available. (69661)
	The most recent year for which conception statistics are available is 2004 and figures for this year are provisional.
	Number of conceptions to girls aged under 14 by single year of age are not published by ONS to protect the confidentiality of individual's information due to small number of events at younger ages. It is therefore not possible to provide conception rate for girls aged 13–14; we can instead provide information for all aged under 14 combined.
	Conception figures for women aged under 14, 14 and 15 to 16 for England and Wales are given in the following table.
	
		Conceptions at ages under 14, 14 and 15–16, Englandand Wales, 2004
		
			 Age Number Rate(13) 
		
		
			 Under 14 341 1.0 
			 14 1,751 5.2 
			 15–16 19,137 28.3 
		
	
	(13) Rates for women aged under 14, 14 and 15–16 are based on the female population of women aged 13, 14 and 15–16 respectively.

Public Expenditure

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will update Table 8.17 of the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2005 to show (a) current and (b) capital expenditure for each year from 1999–2000 to 2005–06.

Stephen Timms: We do not have any plans to modify Table 8.17 of the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (PESA) 2005 to show current and capital expenditure or for the table to cover a run of years. Updated estimates of expenditure analysed by country and region, including an update of Table 8.17 to cover 2004–05, will be published in PESA 2006 (Cm8511), on 15 May 2006.

Staff Development

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total cost was of (a) staff away-days and (b) staff team building exercises in his Department in each of the last three years.

John Healey: The total cost recorded for staff away-days and team building exercises in 2005–06 is £54,000. Costs for earlier years could be disaggregated only at disproportionate cost.

Staff Vetting

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) EU foreign nationals and (b) non-EU foreign nationals have been employed in his Department in each of the last five years; what vetting procedures are in place for each category of staff; and whether these include liaison with foreign law enforcement agencies.

John Healey: The information requested in respect of the Treasury is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  EU nationals Non-EU nationals 
		
		
			 2001 11 12 
			 2002 6 14 
			 2003 12 22 
			 2004 9 12 
			 2005 12 18 
		
	
	All staff working in the Treasury are required to undergo national security vetting. The level of vetting that is appropriate will depend on the particular post that they are going to fill. Where necessary, the vetting process will include a check of time spent overseas.

Stamp Duty

James Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what projections he has made for the revenue from stamp duty on (a) property and (b) share transactions in each of the next three financial years.

Edward Balls: Projected revenues for total stamp taxes in 2006–07 were
	published in Table C8 of the Budget 2006 report. The breakdown between stamp taxes on land and property and stamp taxes on shares is as follows:
	
		
			  £ billion 
			 Taxes 2006–07 
		
		
			 Stamp taxes on land and property transactions 8.1 
			 Stamp taxes on share transactions 4.0 
			 Total stamp taxes 12.2 
		
	
	Projections of total stamp taxes are only shown in the Budget 2006 report up to 2006–07 and this is therefore the last year for which forecast receipts are currently given in replies to parliamentary questions.

Trade Statistics

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the UK's balance of trade was with (a) the USA, (b) China, (c) India, (d) Japan, (e) the remainder of South East Asia and (f) South America in each of the last eight years; and what assessment he has made of the trends over this period.

Edward Balls: The Office for National Statistics publishes trade in goods and services data by country in their annual Pink Book publication (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=1140&Pos=1&ColRank=1&Rank=272). Trends in the UK's trade with the rest of the world vary significantly across regions. For example, the UK runs a substantial trade surplus with the United States, while it is currently running a trade deficit with the majority of South-East Asian and South American economies.
	These trends are likely to partly reflect broader global trends, with emerging economies accounting for an increasing share of global output, trade and investment. These changes have significant implications for the world's advanced economies, bringing with them new challenges and opportunities.

Unemployment

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the level of unemployment in the West Midlands in 2004–05.

Edward Balls: In 2004–05, claimant unemployment in the West Midlands reached a record low, and was 243 thousand lower than its peak in March 1986.
	Between May 1997 and March 2006, claimant unemployment in the West Midlands has fallen by 40 thousand (27.1 per cent.) and the rate is now 5.2 per cent.

Electoral Roll

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what was the size of the total electorate for the (a) Vale of Clwyd and (b) Denbighshire in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  what the (a) size of the electorate and (b) registration rate was in each local authority in (i) England, (ii) Wales, (iii) Scotland and (iv) Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 11 May 2006
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions regarding (1) the size of the electorate and the registration rate in each local authority in (i) England, (ii) Wales, (iii) Scotland and (iv) Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years; (2) the percentage of those eligible to vote who were registered to vote in each local authority in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years and (3) the total electorate for (a) the Vale of Clwyd and (b) Denbighshire in each of the last 10 years. (68582, 64195 and 65905)
	Firstly, please allow me to explain why it has taken a little while to reply to your questions. I understand from the House of Commons Library that you are most interested in Parliamentary electorate by local authority. This is not a standard output so it has taken some time to collate the data and ensure it is on an equivalent basis. This is further complicated by different data being available for England & Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Electoral data are held locally by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS), the Electoral Office Northern Ireland (EONI) and for England & Wales the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Regarding the question on total electorate for Denbighshire and the Vale of Clwyd, we do not normally publish data on total electorate (rather we publish local/European electorate and separately Parliamentary electorate data). For years up to and including 2001, data are not held electronically in a form that enables us to calculate 'total electorate'. Therefore, in order to obtain the data you requested we have referred to the annual paper returns from Denbighshire to collate the necessary data.
	Historical UK Electorate by LA
	Electoral data are available on the number of people registered to vote in Parliamentary elections and also on the number of people registered to vote in local/European elections. Annual population data are only available on a "usual residence" basis: the mid-year population estimates. Since population data are available by age, the mid-year population aged 18 and over can be calculated. Thus it is possible to calculate an estimate of the 'registration rate' using "the percentage of the usually resident population, aged 18 and over who are registered to vote" as either Parliamentary or local/European electors).
	It is not possible to 'split' estimates of the usual resident population in order to give estimates of the population entitled to vote. We do not hold data (e.g. populations of non-EU citizens) that enable us to produce such a 'split'.
	The attached tables (one for each year), therefore, provide information, for each local authority in the UK, on (i) the annual 'usual resident' mid-year population; (ii) the size of the (a) Parliamentary electorate and (b) local/European electorate; and (iii) the percentage of the "estimated usually resident population" aged 18 and over who are registered to vote as (a) Parliamentary electors and (b) local/European electors. These are labelled as 'registration rates' on the tables and this term is used in the remainder of this reply. These data provide the closest available approximation to the information you requested. It is not possible to calculate the percentage of the eligible population who are registered to vote: the resident population aged 18 and over is not the same as the number of people eligible to vote.
	This 'registration rate' is not a published National Statistic: there are a number of issues that mean care needs to be taken when interpreting the data. In particular care needs to be taken when considering local authorities where the usually resident population differs radically from the population eligible to vote. An example of such a local authority is Forest Heath. There are a large number of United States Air Force personnel, contractors, and dependants in Forest Heath who, as American citizens, are not eligible to vote. These people are however included in the population estimates as they are usually resident. Therefore, the estimated 'registration rate' calculated for Forest Heath is considerably reduced. However, the Office for National Statistics (ONS), in order to aid comparisons of the resident population of voting age and the number of people who are registered to vote, does calculate 'registration rates' on occasion in the manner outlined above.
	The attached tables give comparisons between the number of registered electors and annual mid-year population for the ten years up to mid-2004 (the latest available population estimates for the UK) for all local authorities in the UK. Each table shows a comparison against Parliamentary electorate (where available) and against local/European electorate. The availability of Parliamentary electorate by LA differs by country as this is a non-standard output. Data availability also differs from year to year. Recent improvements to the way the data are held for England and Wales mean these data can now be calculated for more recent years. For England and Wales data on Parliamentary electorate by LA, for years prior to 2002, could only be calculated by reference to individual paper LA annual returns and would involve disproportionate cost. For Scotland, 2004 data on Parliamentary electors by LA will be available shortly and we will provide you with an update of these tables when they become available. For Northern Ireland data on Parliamentary electors by LA are not currently available.
	In order to give an estimate of the number of electors at the mid-year point, 30 June, a weighted average is taken of the two closest sets of electoral data. This gives the best possible comparison with the population estimates. Footnotes to the tables indicate the formulae used to calculate these weighted comparisons.
	Attainers have been excluded from the electorate data to give the best possible comparison. Therefore, the data may differ to that published elsewhere.
	We have also updated the data where there are known (small) errors in or updates to previously published data. This means that the attached data provide the best possible comparison.
	The local/European electorate gives a better comparison than parliamentary electorate to the usually resident population as EU citizens are included and UK citizens resident abroad are excluded from the local/European electorate. However, a number of other difficulties remain when comparing these sources. For example not everyone who is usually resident is entitled to vote (foreign citizens from outside of the EU and Commonwealth, prisoners, etc. are not eligible) and people who have more than one address may register in more than one place (e.g. students may register at parental and term-time addresses). These factors may have a differential impact from place to place.
	There is also inevitably some double counting of the registered electorate (both parliamentary and local/European) as electoral registration officers vary in how quickly they remove people from the registers after they have moved away from an area or after they have died. This is the main reason some areas show apparent rates in excess of one hundred per cent.
	In order to aid comparison two further tables are attached that show the estimated 'registration rates' for all ten years. Table A shows these rates for Parliamentary electors and Table B for local/European electors. However, any comparison of these data across years should be made carefully as electoral legislation and other changes (such as EU expansion) can change the size of the electorate.
	A copy of the tables will be placed in the House of Commons Library.
	The tables provide as comprehensive as possible comparisons between historic local authority population and electorate numbers. I understand from the House of Commons Library that you are also interested in the percentage of residents who are registered to vote on a Parliamentary constituency basis. Official Report number 82 column 1719, 12 December 2005, provides the best possible consistent UK comparison for Parliamentary constituencies. For England and Wales we hope to investigate the possibility of producing population estimates by Parliamentary constituency in the future using Small Area Population Estimates. For Northern Ireland, population estimates by Parliamentary constituency are already available from the Northern Ireland Statistical and Research Agency (NISRA). You may also be interested in the Electoral Commission study "Understanding electoral registration": http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/templates/search/document.cfm/13545.
	Total Electorate for Denbighshire and Vale of Clwyd
	The table below provides the requested 'total electorate' information for Denbighshire and the Vale of Clwyd, for the past 9 years. The total electorate figures shown here are those who are registered to vote as either Parliamentary electors, or local/European electors., or both.
	Data for 1996 are not readily available. The data are derived from data as reported by Denbighshire, and for years up to and including 2001, have been collated from the original paper returns.
	
		Total electorate for Vale of Clwyd and Denbighshire 1997 to 2005
		
			  Total electorate(14) 
			 Year(15) Vale of Clwyd Denbighshire 
		
		
			 1997 52,966 70,770 
			 1998 52,418 70,198 
			 1999 51,402 69,011 
			 2000 50,696 67,933 
			 2001 51,237 68,556 
			 2002 51,409 68,936 
			 2003 50,627 68,060 
			 2004 52,356 70,193 
			 2005 53,251 71,316 
		
	
	(14) Total number registered to vote as parliamentary or local electors, combined.
	(15) Data for years up to and including 2000 relate to 16 February, data for 2001 and subsequent years relate to 1 December.
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics

Angola

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much (a) direct and (b) bilateral aid his Department has allocated to Angola in 2006–07; how much he expects to be allocated in 2007–08; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: The DFID bilateral programme in Angola has commitments of £5 million for the financial year 2006–07. Expenditure is concentrated in the following areas:
	Relief and recovery. This includes support for bridge repairs that are necessary to allow humanitarian aid to reach affected areas of the country. Funding has also been provided for emergency operations to contain the outbreak of the Marburg virus in 2005.
	Strengthening democratisation. Our work here focuses on decentralisation and supporting civil-society contributions to the elections process. We also work with the World Bank to try and improve governance in the country and support the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative.
	Urban poverty in Luanda. This programme has created space for local communities to organise and better engage with local government on a range of issues, such as local water supply. The programme will end this year.
	HIV and AIDS. We are providing support for condom promotion, access to testing and behaviour change programmes, and are also providing anti-retrovirals.
	This year, Angola has also received approximately £1.3 million from the Africa Conflict Prevention Pool (ACCP). ACCP funds are agreed on a yearly basis. In addition, DFID continues to support de-mining operations in Angola. £1 million has been provided this year for de-mining in the country. A similar commitment is expected in 2007–08.
	Angola will also be involved in regional programmes that DFID in Southern Africa is currently developing. This regional programme is a £20 million per annum commitment, addressing regional peace and security, trade and growth, and resilient livelihoods concerns. As part of this regional commitment, we have recently approved an £18 million UNICEF programme to address children affected by AIDS. Around £3 million of this programme will be directed to Angola.
	All DFID bilateral resources are managed through third party civil society and UN organisations and not by the Government of Angola.
	Allocated bilateral expenditure from DFID is expected to be £3 million for 2007–08. Angola also benefits from DFID contributions to European Union and the World Bank operations in Angola. The EU has committed €146 million over the five year period from 2002–07. The World Bank's contribution this year is approximately US$30 million.

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many people in his Department have been (a) disciplined and (b) dismissed for (i) inappropriate use of the internet while at work and (ii) using work telephones to access premium rate telephone numbers in each of the last five years.

Gareth Thomas: All DFID staff can access the internet while at work. Our policy on the Acceptable Use of IT is set out in our Security Manual, available on our intranet, and is drawn to the attention of staff on first appointment. Each time staff log on to our computer network, they are required to acknowledge that they have read and agree to comply with the Acceptable Use of IT policy. Our system also alerts staff when logging in that their activity on the system may be monitored. The policy provides clear guidance that misuse of official equipment will be a disciplinary offence, and, subject to the particular offence, could lead to dismissal. The policy applies to civil servants working in the UK and overseas, and to our locally appointed staff overseas, who work under local contacts.
	Although internet activity on all DFID computers is logged every day, analysis is only undertaken when suspicion of misuse is raised. All premium rate telephone numbers are barred from DFID office telephones except for mobile telephones. Itemised bills for DFID mobile telephones are checked by individual departments.
	DFID did not hold a central disciplinary record until October 2004. In the last five years, we have details of one disciplinary case which did not result in dismissal and three dismissals (one of whom was provided by an agency and dismissed by the agency) for inappropriate use of the internet while at work. The following table lists the cases by year.
	
		
			  Disciplined Dismissed 
		
		
			 2002 1 0 
			 2004 0 (16)2 
			 2005 0 1 
			 Total 1 3 
		
	
	(16) one locally appointed and one agency staff

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) EU foreign nationals and (b) non-EU foreign nationals have been employed in his Department in each of the last five years; what vetting procedures are in place for each category of staff; and whether these include liaison with foreign law enforcement agencies.

Gareth Thomas: DFID collects information on Ethnic Origin and nationality for its home civil service (HSC)and equivalent staff in line with the categories defined in the 2001 Census and which were agreed with the Commission for Racial Equality. Provision of this information by staff is voluntary.
	Our records show that in the years 2001 to 2006, 115 HCS staff have declared their Ethnic Origin as "Any other" which is defined as other than "British or Mixed British"; "English"; "Irish"; "Scottish" or "Welsh".
	The following table shows these results:
	
		
			 Ethnic nationality 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Total 
		
		
			 Bangladeshi — 1 — — — — 1 
			 Indian — 1 6 3 — — 10 
			 Pakistani — 1 2 — — — 3 
			 African 2 4 — 1 1 — 8 
			 Caribbean 2 — — 1 — — 3 
			 Asian and White — 2 2 — — — 4 
			 Other Mixed Ethnic — — — 2 1 — 3 
			 White 18 15 16 16 8 2 75 
			 Any Other Ethnic background — 1 4 1 — — 6 
			 Unknown or Unspecified — — 1 — 1 — 2 
			 Total 22 25 31 24 11 2 115 
		
	
	As staff are not obliged to state the exact nationality which corresponds to that Ethnic Origin we cannot provide a breakdown between EU foreign nationals and non-EU foreign nationals.
	For our HCS and equivalent staff, DFID carries out a basic verification check of identity and eligibility to work in the UK for EU foreign nationals and non-EU foreign nationals, when candidates attend the selection process. Further vetting for selected candidates, which can include criminal record checks with foreign law enforcement agencies, is undertaken by our Security Section.
	In addition to HCS staff, DFID also employs Staff Appointed in Country (SAIC) in our overseas offices. We do not hold specific nationality information on these staff, but the vast majority are nationals of the country in which they are appointed, and, therefore non-EU foreign nationals. We do not hold a central record of annual appointments, but the total numbers of SAIC in post in each year since 2001, is as follows:
	
		
			  SAIC staff numbers 
		
		
			 2001 424 
			 2002 739 
			 2003 874 
			 2004 914 
			 2005 989 
			 2006 932 
		
	
	For Staff Appointed in Country, our Security Section carries out a basic check of identity, including references. The DFID overseas offices are required to confirm to Security Section that they have completed the relevant police checks for criminal records, where possible, with the local police authorities in the country of appointment.

Equal Pay

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) women and (b) men are employed in the Department; what the average pay was for (i) women and (ii) men in the Department in (A) 1997 and (B) 2006; what women's average pay is as a percentage of men's average pay; and how many (1) women and (2) men the Department employed in each of the last five years, broken down by grade.

Gareth Thomas: The Cabinet Office collects and publishes annually statistical information on the civil service by Department. These include data on the employment of men and women.
	The number of permanent and pensionable home civil service (HCS) staff employed by DFID as at 1 May 2006 broken down by gender is: male: 949 and female: 898.
	The average (median) pay for HCS staff employed by DFID as at 1 May 2006 by gender are as follows:
	
		1 May 2006
		
			  Headcount 
			  Full-time staff Part-time staff Full-time equivalent 
			  Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total 
		
		
			 Median 32,738 26,652 29,570 12,518 20,594 13,358 32,557 22,151 29,467 
			 Female median pay as percentage of male  median pay 81.4 164.5 68.0 
		
	
	Note:
	A new payroll system introduced in 2004 holds data only from 2001 onwards equivalent figures for 1997 therefore can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	The number of HCS staff employed by DFID broken down by gender and grade in each of the last five years are shown in the following tables:
	
		1 April 2002
		
			 All non-industrial staff 
			  Headcount 
			  Full-time staff Part-time staff Full-time equivalent 
			 Responsibility level Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total 
		
		
			 SCS 50 10 60 0 0 0 50 10 60 
			 Grades 6/7 268 136 404 1 3 4 268.9 138 406.9 
			 SEO/HEO 194 144 338 1 19 20 194.5 155.6 350.1 
			 EO 135 133 268 1 27 28 135.5 150.1 285.6 
			 AO/AA 154 235 389 2 42 44 155.1 258.8 413.9 
			 Unknown 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Total 801 658 1459 5 91 96 804 712.5 1516.5 
			   
			 All industrial staff 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
		
	
	
		1 April 2003
		
			 All non-industrial staff 
			  Headcount 
			  Full-time staff Part-time staff Full-time equivalent 
			 Responsibility level Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total 
		
		
			 SCS 47 13 60 3 0 3 49.4 13 62.4 
			 Grades 6/7 310 157 467 2 11 13 311.4 165 476.4 
			 SEO/HEO 217 186 403 0 18 18 217 197.1 414.1 
			 EO 130 120 250 1 25 26 130.5 134.5 265 
			 AO/AA 140 216 356 2 43 45 141.3 240.9 382.2 
			 Unknown 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Total 844 692 1536 8 97 105 849.6 750.5 1600.1 
			   
			 All industrial staff 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
		
	
	
		1 April 2004
		
			 All non-industrial staff 
			  Headcount 
			  Full-time staff Part-time staff Full-time equivalent 
			 Responsibility level Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total 
		
		
			 SCS 56 19 75 1 0 1 56.9 19 75.9 
			 Grades 6/7 362 202 564 4 20 24 364.8 216.7 581.5 
			 SEO/HEO 232 192 424 0 22 22 232 206.2 438.2 
			 EO 142 137 279 3 23 26 143.6 150.7 294.3 
			 AO/AA 141 224 365 1 41 42 141.5 248.6 390.1 
			 Unknown 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Total 933 774 1707 9 106 115 938.8 841.2 1780 
			   
			 All industrial staff 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
		
	
	
		1 April 2005
		
			 All non-industrial staff 
			  Headcount 
			  Full-time staff Part-time staff Full-time equivalent 
			 Responsibility level Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total 
		
		
			 SCS 61 22 83 2 1 3 62.5 22.6 85.1 
			 Grades 6/7 407 218 625 6 23 29 411.1 234.4 645.5 
			 SEO/HEO 261 245 506 2 23 25 262.1 259.6 521.7 
			 EO 133 145 278 3 23 26 134.6 159.8 294.4 
			 AO/AA 124 184 308 1 44 45 124.5 211.3 335.8 
			 Unknown 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Total 986 814 1800 14 114 128 994.8 887.7 1882.5 
			   
			 All industrial staff 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
		
	
	
		1 April 2006
		
			 All non-industrial staff 
			  Headcount 
			  Full-time staff Part-time staff Full-time equivalent 
			 Responsibility level Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total 
		
		
			 SCS 56 22 78 3 3 6 58.4 23.8 82.2 
			 Grades 6/7 378 253 631 2 22 24 379.7 267.7 647.4 
			 SEO/HEO 267 210 477 0 25 25 267 226.4 493.4 
			 EO 129 131 260 5 23 28 131.5 145.3 276.8 
			 AO/AA 107 171 278 2 38 40 107.9 193.8 301.7 
			 Unknown 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Total 937 787 1724 12 111 123 944.5 857 1801.5 
			   
			 All industrial staff 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Fledgling Democracies

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 27 April 2006, Official Report, columns 1231–2W, on fledgling democracies, why his Department does not track multilateral aid; and what mechanisms are in place in his Department to evaluate the effectiveness of the programmes which UK aid funds.

Gareth Thomas: DFID reviews the effectiveness of all bilateral projects over £1 million at least once a year. This includes money which DFID country programmes channel through multilateral agencies since according to international convention this aid is classified as bilateral. DFID has a public service agreement target to achieve a sustained increase in the quality of DFID's bilateral projects. DFID reports progress towards this target in the Departmental Report and the Autumn Performance Report. This year's Departmental Report will be published on 9th May.
	This monitoring system cannot track core contributions to multilateral agencies because these funds are pooled. However, DFID uses a Multilateral Effectiveness Framework and other assessments to evaluate the performance of the multilateral agencies. During 2004, DFID used the Multilateral Effectiveness Framework to assess 23 multilateral agencies against their objectives. These objectives were agreed jointly with DFID and set out in an Institutional Strategy Paper. These institutional strategies are publicly available. DFID uses the results of the Multilateral Effectiveness Frameworks and other mechanisms to inform decisions around funding for the multilateral agencies.

Palestine

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Richmond, Yorkshire, of 18 April 2006, Official Report, column 529W, on Palestine, if he will place in the Library a copy of the accounts of the Palestinian Authority audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Hilary Benn: PricewaterhouseCoopers have not yet completed their audit of the Palestinian Authority's accounts for 2003–04, although we expect them to do so shortly. As soon as the audit is completed and the details published a copy of the audit report will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Solicitor-General what opportunities exist for people to work beyond retirement age in his Department.

Mike O'Brien: I am answering this question on behalf of my Departments—the Crown Prosecution Service, Serious Fraud Office, Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office, Treasury Solicitor's Department and HMCPS Inspectorate.
	In all the Departments the normal retirement age for members of the senior civil service is 60. However heads of Departments have the flexibility to retain members of the SCS beyond 60 if they judge it to be in the public interest and are satisfied about the fitness and efficiency of the individual to carry out his or her duties. This flexibility has been used from time to time.
	For staff below the SCS all Departments have reviewed, or are reviewing their retirement policies.
	For the CPS the normal retirement age is 60, though former local authority staff that joined the CPS in 1986 retain the contractual right to remain in service until age 65, under the CPS (Transfer of Staff) Regulations 1985.
	Staff at level E and below may give notice of their intention to remain beyond age 60. All others staff must demonstrate that they meet the normal requirements of their level in terms of performance, attendance and conduct.
	The SFO has a flexible retirement policy covering staff below the SCS. The policy offers a minimum retirement age of 60 years at which employees may opt to retire and receive full accrued superannuation benefits as of right. Employees cannot remain in employment beyond the day prior to their 65th birthday.
	The Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office has now adopted a retirement policy that enables staff to continue working until the maximum age of 65.
	The Treasury Solicitor's Department raised its normal retirement age for people below the SCS from 60 to 65 on 1 June 2006. The Department now allows people to retire at any time between the ages of 60 and 65.
	HMCPS Inspectorate has decided not to change its policy, pending the creation of a single cjs inspectorate currently being debated in the Police and Justice Bill.

Child Behaviour

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the programmes run by his Department to modify behavioural patterns of children since 1997; and what the cost was in each case.

Jim Knight: Funding for behaviour improvement in schools comes from a wide variety of sources and is aggregated to varying degrees with funding for other activities, in particular, on initiatives which have the combined purpose of improving behaviour and attendance and on reducing exclusions. It is therefore impossible to give discrete totals just for behaviour improvement related activities.
	The information in the following table lists the main programmes funded by this Government since 1997 that most directly relate to improving behaviour and attendance in schools and the amounts of funding in each case.
	
		
			 Grant/scheme Amount £ Million 
		
		
			 Behaviour Grant  
			 1997–98 10.4 
			 1998–99 11.4 
			   
			 Schools Inclusion: Pupil Support Grant  
			 1999–2000 28.5 
			 2000–01 69.1 
			 2002–03 84.5 
			   
			 Behaviour Improvement Programme  
			 2002–03 50 
			 2003–04 85 
			 2004–05 95 
			 2005–06 121 
			   
			 National Strategies Behaviour and Attendance Strand  
			 2003–04 24 
			 2004–05 24 
			 2005–06 24 
			   
			 Primary Behaviour and Attendance programme  
			 2003–04 5 
			 2004–05 5 
			 2005–06 5 
			   
			 Funding to EiC areas for Learning Support Units and Learning Mentors  
			 1999–2000 17 
			 2000–01 69 
			 2001–02 103 
			 2002–03 121 
			 2003–04 134 
			 2004–05 143 
			 2005–06 152

City Academies

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what the capital cost is of each city academy in operation;
	(2)  what average amount of funding per academy has been released by his Department during the feasibility phase of planning the establishment of a new academy.

Jim Knight: The current capital allocation for the 27 academies currently in operation is given in the following table.
	
		
			 Open academy Current agreed capital cash limit (£) 
		
		
			 The Academy at Peckham 30,169,539 
			 The Academy of St. Francis of Assisi 20,868,385 
			 The Business Academy Bexley 38,459,531 
			 Capital City Academy 26,994,000 
			 The City Academy, Bristol 27,666,644 
			 The City of London Academy 33,361,132 
			 Dixons City Academy 6,510,494 
			 Djanogly City Academy 21,587,127 
			 Greig City Academy 16,479,000 
			 Haberdasher's Aske's Hatcham College Academy 7,045,000 
			 Haberdasher's Aske's Knights Academy 40,380.591 
			 The Harefield Academy 26,418,502 
			 The King's Academy 22,301,104 
			 Lambeth Academy 25,445,886 
			 London Academy 31,398,939 
			 MacMillan Academy 13,028,620 
			 Manchester Academy 19,786,149 
			 The Marlowe Academy 27,803,246 
			 Mossbourne Community Academy 27,973,726 
			 The Northampton Academy 27,358,929 
			 Salford City Academy 15,052,758 
			 St. Paul's Academy 31,189,300 
			 Stockley Academy 25,809,685 
			 Trinity Academy 25,070,483 
			 Unity City Academy 20,590,000 
			 Walsall Academy 17,321,463 
			 West London Academy 31,163,389 
		
	
	The average cost of a new secondary school in a high cost inner city area is similar for academy and non-academy schools.
	The average amount of funding per academy released by my Department during the feasibility phase is £252,959. This figure is based on the funding released to the 27 open academies and to 30 other academies yet to open but which have entered feasibility and to which payments have been made.

GCSE

Michael Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils achieved five or more A* to C grades at GCSE in (a) 1997 and (b) 2006 in (i) Swindon and (ii) England.

Jim Knight: GCSE examinations have not yet been taken in 2006. The following table shows the percentage of 15-year-old pupils 1 achieving five or more GCSEs or equivalents 2 at grades A* to C in 1997 and 2005.
	
		
			  1997 2005 
		
		
			 Swindon local authority(19) 43.0 49.8 
			 England(20) 45.1 56.3 
		
	
	(17) Pupils aged 15 at the start of the academic year (i.e. 31 August).
	(18) For 1997 includes GNVQ equivalences and for 2005 all other equivalences approved for use pre 16.
	(19) LA level figures only cover maintained schools.
	(20) England figures cover all schools including independent schools, hospital schools and PRUs.

Illiteracy

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people over the age of 65 years are deemed to be illiterate in (a) former mining areas and (b) England.

Phil Hope: The Department for Education and Skills does not collect statistics on the literacy levels of people over the age of 65 years.
	The Department does collect statistics on learners starting Skills for Life courses—adult literacy, numeracy and language courses. In the academic year 2003/04 around 18,000 adults aged 60 to 69 and 9,000 adults aged 70 and above in England started Skills for Life courses.

Physical Education

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will take steps to improve physical education in schools during (a) the current and (b) 2006–07 school year; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The Government are investing over £1½ billion in the five years up to 2008 to deliver the first comprehensive national school sport strategy, which went live in April 2003. The strategy's prime objective—a joint Department for Education and Skills and Department for Culture, Media and Sport PSA target—is to increase the percentage of five to 16-year-olds who spend a minimum of two hours each week on high quality PE and school sport within and beyond the curriculum, to 75 per cent. by 2006 and 85 per cent. by 2008. The long-term ambition—by 2010—is to offer all children at least four hours of sport.
	Spearheading action is the creation of a national network of sports colleges and school sport partnerships. There are currently 411 live school sport partnerships incorporating 80 per cent. of schools in England. All maintained schools will be within a partnership by September 2006. Good progress is being made towards the PSA target. The 2004/05 school sport survey found that 69 per cent. of pupils in the 11,4000 schools taking part were spending at least two hours in a typical week on high quality PE and school sport, an 11 per cent. increase on 2003/04. Copies of the survey reports for 2003/04 and 2004/05 have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament.

School Statistics

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of pupils live outside the local authority in which the school is located in each secondary school that selects (a) wholly and (b) partly by ability.

Jim Knight: holding answer 10 May 2006
	The information requested for wholly selective schools has been provided in the following table. We are unable to provide figures for partially selective schools as they are not designated as such and therefore the Department has no definitive list.
	
		
			 England  
		
		
			 Number of pupils attending grammar schools 111,426 
			 Number of pupils attending grammar schools residing outside school local authority 23,779 
			 Percentage of pupils attending grammar schools residing outside school local authority 21.4 
			 Number of pupils attending grammar schools with unknown residence 380 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Includes secondary, middle deemed secondary, academies and City Technology Colleges.
	2. Includes pupils aged 15 and under.
	Source:
	School Census January 2006 (provisional)

School Transport

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to encourage more efficient and sustainable transportation of children to school;
	(2)  how many local authorities have made bids for funding to pilot new systems of transport for school children in their area;
	(3)  what ring-fenced resources have been allocated in 2006–07 to encourage local authorities to develop innovative systems of school transport.

Jim Knight: The joint Department for Education and Skills and Department for Transport "Travelling to School" action plan aims to increase the proportion of pupils travelling to school by sustainable means. We want all school in England to develop travel plans by the end of the decade, and the Government are funding a network of travel advisers in each local authority to support them in drawing up and implementing measures to encourage more pupils to walk, cycle or take the bus to school.
	The Education and Inspections Bill includes provisions to improve home to school travel and transport arrangements in three main respects:
	By placing a general duty on local authorities to assess the travel and transport needs of all pupils, and to promote sustainable travel to school;
	By extending entitlement to free home to school transport for low income families (for secondary aged pupils to any one of the three nearest suitable schools, where the distance travelled is between two and six miles; and for primary aged pupils aged over eight, to their nearest school where this is more than two miles from their home); and
	By enabling a small number of local authorities to propose Pathfinder schemes to test innovative approaches to home to school transport to support school choice, reduce the distances pupils are expected to walk to school, and increase the proportion of pupils travelling by sustainable means.
	The Department will support these improvements with additional funding as follows:
	£4 million per annum to support the new general duty on local authorities from financial year 2007/08;
	revenue funding building to £40 million per annum to support the extension of rights for low income groups from financial year 2008/09; and
	£4 million pump priming and annual revenue support building up over several years to £12 million for school travel Pathfinder schemes, which we anticipate will start in September 2009.
	The Department will seek formal expressions of interest in Pathfinder schemes only after these proposals have been enacted.

Teacher Salaries

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 7 March 2006, Official Report, columns 1483–84W, to the hon. Member for Peterborough, on teachers' pay, what progress has been made in consideration of the issues arising from the consultation on enabling teachers to access tax-beneficial schemes.

Jim Knight: We expect that an Order amending the statutory School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document, to enable teachers to use salary sacrifice for child care vouchers and other recognised activities and thereby benefit from the advantages of reduced income tax, will be laid before Parliament shortly.

Truancy

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of school-home support organisations in reducing truancy.

Jim Knight: Local Authorities' Education Welfare Services work with schools and families to help parents discharge their responsibility for ensuring that their child attends school regularly, if they are of compulsory school age and registered at a school. They will arrange home visits where appropriate and work with families to resolve attendance issues.
	Education Welfare Services are making a significant contribution to improving levels of school attendance. Overall absence from schools has fallen in each of the last four years and, in 2004–05, is at the lowest level since records began.

Truancy

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils were recorded as having at least one incidence of truancy in 2005–06.

Jim Knight: The Department does not hold data on pupils recorded as truant, it also does not yet hold the 2005/06 data. However, the figures for the number of pupils missing at least one half day due to unauthorised absence (of which truancy forms a part) in maintained mainstream schools in 2004/05 was 1,358,206, this accounts for 20.6 per cent. of the 6,602,061 pupils in maintained mainstream schools.

University Degrees

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the proportion of jobs in the UK which will require a university degree in (a) 2015, (b) 2020 and (b) 2025.

Bill Rammell: The Institute of Employment Research and Cambridge Econometrics have recently published two sets of UK skill scenario projections, investigating skills profiles up to 2014 1 (commissioned by the Learning and Skills Council and the Sector Skills Development Agency), and separately up to 2020 (commissioned as part of the Leitch Review of Skills 2 ).
	These analyses suggest that between 2004 and 2014, just over 12 million jobs will need to be filled (through a combination of new employment growth and replacing workers leaving employment). We do not know exactly how many of these will need graduates, although around 6 million are expected to be in 'managerial', 'professional' or 'associate professional' occupations (high-level jobs that are most likely to employ graduates).
	The 'baseline' projections 3 up to 2020, broadly using the same approach, suggest that around 18 million jobs will need to be filled, with around 9 million expected to be in these high-level occupations.
	The research needs to be viewed as showing possible trends in the skills needs of the future workforce. The work makes assumptions about how past trends in occupational change will continue; about future macro-economic performance; and how business decision-making will react to changing skill profiles.
	More detail is available in the individual reports. No projections up to 2025 have been conducted.
	1 Wilson et al (2006) Working Futures 2004–2014, IER/CE. (www.ssda.org.uk/ssda/Default.aspx?page=28).
	2 Wilson et al (2005) Alternative skills scenarios to 2020 for the UK economy, IER/CE, (www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/independent_reviews/leitch_review/review_leitch_index.cfm).
	3 The 'baseline' projections assume the historical rate of skills acquisition will remain relatively stable.

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) EU foreign nationals and (b) non-EU foreign nationals have been employed in his Department in each of the last five years; what vetting procedures are in place for each category of staff; and whether these include liaison with foreign law enforcement agencies.

Tom Watson: Data regarding how many EU foreign nationals that have been employed in the Department in each of the last five years is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	In line with the statutory prohibition in the Aliens Restriction (Amendment) Act 1919, the Ministry of Defence is required to provide an annual return on the number of non-UK/EU/Commonwealth citizens (aliens) employed in the Department. The MOD employed non-UK/EU/Commonwealth citizens (aliens) for the period 2001–02 to 2004–05 as follows:
	
		Non-UK/EU/Commonwealth citizens employed in the MOD
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 2001–02 21 
			 2002–03 34 
			 2003–04 31 
			 2004–05 30 
			 2005–06 (21)— 
		
	
	(21) Awaiting data
	The need for an individual to undergo national security vetting, and the level of vetting that is appropriate will depend on the particular post they are going to fill. All applicants undergo the same clearance process regardless of their nationality.
	The range of checks that are required to be carried out are set out in the then Prime Minister's statement of 15 December 1994, Official Report, columns 764–66.

Fire Brigade Strike

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence under what conditions the Army provides back-up in the event of a fire brigade strike.

Tom Watson: These conditions are outlined at paragraphs 3.26 and 3.27 of the Fire and Rescue Service Statutory National Framework 2006–08, laid before Parliament earlier this year and published on 6 April 2006. The Government's White Paper, 'Our Fire and Rescue Service', published in 2003, stated that
	"it would be wrong for any party to proceed on the basis that the Armed Forces will be available in the event of industrial action" (Paragraph 7.23).

Corporate Hospitality

David Simpson: To ask the Leader of the House on how many occasions he has accepted corporate hospitality in the last 12 months.

Jack Straw: I have accepted corporate hospitality on two occasions in the last 12 months. Details are given in the Register of Members' Interests (Session 2005–06), published on 24 March 2006.

Ministerial Visits (Accommodation)

David Simpson: To ask the Leader of the House what the total cost was of overnight accommodation for (a) civil servants and (b) special advisers in his office staying overnight in (i) mainland Great Britain, (ii) Northern Ireland, (iii) the Republic of Ireland and (iv) other countries in each of the last three years.

Jack Straw: The information is set out in the following table. No special advisers or civil servants from the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons made overnight trips to Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland.
	
		
			 £ 
			  Great Britain Other countries 
			  Special advisers Civil servants Special advisers Civil servants 
		
		
			 2003–04 0 0 0 0 
			 2004–05 0 0 1,122 1,122 
			 2005–06 75 0 506 505